Pierce-ing the veil of lies: getting even with Stephen

As reported on the Salty Droid blog last week, there is a class action lawsuit brewing against Internet marketer Stephen Pierce. And it's about time. For far too long, too many "success" gurus have been peddling their frauducts and flopportunities online and on TV infomercials, persuading thousands of vulnerable and desperate people to fork over millions of dollars that most really cannot afford to spare. Once they realize that they've squandered time, money, and mental and emotional energy for squat, most of these unhappy customers have little legal recourse. Some are too ashamed or perhaps just too stubborn to admit they've been taken, so they swallow it, or they turn a blind eye and order more frauducts, hoping the next one will be the key to the realization of their dreams. Others may own up to being swindled, but they simply don't have the resources to pursue legal remedy.

Now, with this developing case against Stephen Pierce, we have what could be a notable exception to this sad scenario. It may even inspire other similar actions against serial scammers -- at least those who haven't made themselves sue-resistant by setting up their scams on obscure offshore isles. But perhaps even those hucksters will get their due, someday.

First things first, though. Says Salty, regarding the lawsuit against Stephen Pierce:

Dallas Attorney Alan Rosenberg is preparing to bring a lawsuit against Stephen Pierce International {and affiliated companies and individuals} for the victims of SPI’s various scams :: fake opportunities :: and boiler room soul crushings. Alan and his firm :: Chamblee, Ryan, Kershaw & Anderson, P.C. :: have agreed to take the case on a contingency basis … which is super awesome of them because people who’ve just been scammed for insane monies don’t tend to have lots of cash lying around.

If you’ve been scammed by Stephen Pierce {or a phone room calling in his name} you should consider being a part of this suit. Not just for yourself :: or for the money {which you deserve to get back} … but because it needs to be done for the greater f-----g good. Because it’s not going to stop unless we all step up and do our part to stop it.
Contact Alan Rosenberg at this email address for more details about getting involved in the suit.

Why Stephen Pierce? After all, on one level, this founder of the defunct Black America Online (it seemed like such a good idea at the time!), and co-founder of the hustledork clearinghouse SANG, is just one of hundreds of smarmy pitch men (and women, though women are a very small minority in the upper echelons of this dodgy industry). Although by many reports Stephen Pierce treats his family, friends, and employees shamefully, there is still nothing particularly exceptional in that; lots of egomaniacs and sociopaths are equally reprehensible. But Stephen Pierce has made himself stand out in a very big way. Writes Salty:

...he decided he needed to hire the classless act attorneys at Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease to sue everyone in sight … mostly people he’d already made to suffer … mostly people who can’t afford to hire an attorney. That awesome move was enough to bump Stephen Pierce up to number one on my list … so well done there champ.

As my pal Marty at the Articulayers blog writes:

According to Salty’s investigating, Pierce not only has scammed tens-to-hundreds-of-thousands from people buying biz-ops, but he also flexes his lawyer on them, and sues people all the time. It doesn’t take a genius to do a little web searching and find tons of complaints on Pierce – but these are common in the stinking, scuzzy world of biz-op Internet marketing. What is not common is to sue people as much as Pierce does, and this is pretty unappealing by most standards. It’s like stealing the wheels off wheelchairs, or raping the wounded.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

And by the way, I've addressed this point before but will go there again for the benefit of any new readers. Some people are put off by the "salty" language on Salty Droid's blog. Some are confused by his sometimes cryptic writing style, and they end up scratching their heads and wondering what the heck he's talking about. (Following the many links he provides would actually clear up much of that puzzlement, but some folks don't bother.) One person whose work I respect even warned me that by quoting Salty so much on my own blog, I might be damaging my own credibility (such as it is). And some simply dismiss Salty as a hater hiding behind a fake-robot persona. 

Well, he is a hater -- of scams. But he's hardly hiding. As I am doing with my Cosmic Connie persona, Salty is hiding in plain sight. He reveals his real name -- Jason Jones -- and other personal information right there on his site. 

And while some of the profanity might make you flinch, I urge you to stick around for the real information about real scams and scammers. As I've said many times before, I believe that Salty-aka-Jason's heart is in the right place, and so is his head. I am far from the only person who thinks he's doing good, especially with his latest series about Stephen Pierce -- a series that is still ongoing. If you really want to get up to speed about Stephen Pierce, follow this link. And don't worry; you'll get used to the language. Just try to put it in perspective: A few cuss words here and there aren't nearly as bad as the real harm that is being done by the folks being cussed.

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It wasn't too long ago that, like millions of other people, I'd never even heard of Stephen Pierce. My blog had always focused on those whom I considered to be the higher-profile New-Wage/selfish-help/McSpirituality gurus and some of their minions -- you know, the stars of The Secret, Oprah's darlings, and the like. Reading Salty Droid's blog opened my eyes to other, intimately related, factions of the industries I'd been targeting for many years.
But Stephen Pierce still wasn't really on my radar until I heard from a former employee of his. Without mentioning any names at the time, I wrote a post about that person's experiences a few years ago: http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2009/11/lies-that-blind.html.

In retrospect, knowing what I know now, I see that my post barely touched on the atrocious behavior and hypocrisy of Stephen Pierce. My main point in writing it was to bolster my contention that hypocrisy, appalling behavior, and train-wreck personal lives are par for the course with all too many motivational, marketing, and pop-spirituality "stars." The people who make millions telling us how to live our lives are the ones whose own lives are sorry examples.

Now it looks as if Stephen Pierce may really get what's coming to him. Perhaps in the process, some of his colleagues and enablers, such as the notorious Utah-based "coaching" mill and boiler room Prosper Learning, may get a little karm-uppance too. (By the way, here's a recent vid from Prosper, in which they proudly name Stephen Pierce as one of their "partners." It's a segment from my local (Houston TX area) FOX station: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgJIOHDRprg )

The good news is that you can help with the effort to pursue justice for the victims of Stephen Pierce. First off, I'll reiterate what I cited above: If you -- and/or someone you know and care about -- were scammed by Stephen Pierce or anyone representing him or Stephen Pierce International, contact attorney Alan Rosenberg at arosenberg@chambleeryan.com. Even if you were not directly affected, you can help by spreading the word. In Texas, attorneys are not allowed to solicit clients. So it's up to all of us interested lay folk to get the word out. 

You can use social media, for example. Tweet about this matter, and write about it on your Facebook status. Of course, you can also blog about it if too you feel so moved. Some of my favorite bloggers and scam fighters have already gotten in on the act, including:

• Ryan Healy at RyanHealy.com: http://www.ryanhealy.com/cash-flow-lawsuits-idiots/
  Ryan makes money online and tries to help others do the same, but in a non-scammy way.
• The aforementioned Marty Lamers at Articulayers: http://www.articulayers.com/2012/04/class-action-against-stephen-pierce/
  Marty is witty and very online-savvy, and I think he's a great ally in the fight against scammy online marketers.
• Lynndel "Lynn" Edgington at Eagle Research Associates: http://eagleresearchassociates.org/StephenPierce.php
  I'm a big believer in Lynn and the work that he and his staff are doing at Eagle Research.

I intend to add other links and resources as I become aware of them. Even now, sites and forums are being built to advance "the cause."
You can also participate in online discussion forums as appropriate, such as this treasure trove of information about Stephen Pierce on RealScam.com: http://www.realscam.com/f11/people-vs-stephen-pierce-1189/

You might also consider writing comments -- again, as appropriate -- in some of the discussions following reviews of Stephen Pierce's work on Amazon. Here's a page for one of his books. But please don't spam. Don't just copy and paste the same comment on dozens of threads, as that doesn't help the cause at all. As Salty noted on a thread on his blog, we have to take the high road -- both legally and morally -- all the way.

But I do urge you to do something. If not for yourself, do it for the thousands of people who feel they have been scammed by Stephen Pierce, those who have been maltreated by him, and those who haven't yet awakened from their fever dream of being led by the hand to unlimited wealth by this blustering blowhard. There's sweet little Mrs. Saunders, for instance, hand-painter of Christmas ornaments, who was still apparently enamored at the time she put this video up in 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Qqz3ufYLNBw#

In the video, there is a very conspicuous cross on the wall behind Mrs. Saunders, which for me just raises the question: WWJD? (Maybe he'd get behind this contemporary effort to throw the moneylenders out of the temple?) I can't help but wonder if Mrs. Saunders has since joined the ranks of the disillusioned. Whether she has or not, however, thousands of unhappy people are decidedly in those ranks, and would like to see a little bit of justice. Here's hoping they get it. As Lynn Edgington of Eagle Research Associates wrote:

We want to wish everyone who has been a victim of Stephen Pierce, and his companies/programs all the success with getting some of your money back through this lawsuit. This attorney firm is not a firm that is interested in “settling” the case. They are trial lawyers, and they relish going to trial. The mere fact they are doing this on contingency is saying they will try this case.

And as Marty at Articulayers put it: "Here’s hoping this suit gets huge, and brings more light to this subject matter – not to mention a little well-earned restitution!"

Yeah, what they said.

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